Odessa High scientists earn awards

After an eight-hour day of continually presenting their research to experts in the field, the student scientists from the Advanced STEM Research Laboratory at Odessa High School exhibited their academic prowess in science and engineering at the Mid-Columbia Regional Science and Engineering Fair in Kennewick on Thursday, March 10, 2016. More than 100 high school student researchers represented the finest scientific minds vying for top prizes in STEM-related categories.

There are three rounds of judging, with the judges in each round posing questions about the student research that become increasingly difficult to answer. As in other competitions, competitors are eligible to earn a first place in a particular category, such as Environmental Biology, Physics or Computer Science. Unlike other competitions, however, all of the first-place awardees are pitted against one another to earn overall prizes for the entire Science Fair.

Instead of many students advancing onward to the International Science and Engineering Fair, those students must be better at presenting their research than all of the other first-place winners until there is only one (or sometimes two) Grand Award(s). Only a handful of students represent each state of the U.S., and many times Odessa students are competing against one another for the overall Grand Prize. All of the students' research was incredible and earned the following recognition for their dedicated efforts:

Stacia Lesser: "Mount St Helens Ash Used as a Temporal Marker for Radioactive Cesium-137 Fallout"

- First place, Senior Division, Environmental Sciences (Physical).

- Third place overall, Senior Division (certificate, ribbon, pin, cash prize).

- Systems Professional Society Outstanding Researcher Award (certificate, cash prize).

- Columbia Chapter Health Physics Society First Place Award (certificate, cash prize).

- Association for Women Geo-scientists Outstanding Project Award (certificate, ribbon).

- U.S. Metric Association Award, Best Use of SI Units (certificate).

- Society of Women Engineers Excellence Award (certificate, cash prize).

- Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers Award (plaque, cash prize).

- Mid-Columbia Regional Science Fair Award: Distinction in Thoroughness (certificate, ribbon).

Johnathon Brightwell: "The Comparison of a Liquid Hydrogen Fueled Rocket to a Butane Fueled Rocket to Determine Efficiency"

- First place, Senior Division, Physics

- Honorable Mention Overall, Senior Division (certificate, ribbon, pin).

- Rosalind Franklin Award, Second Place, Senior Division (certificate, cash prize).

- Mid-Columbia Regional Engineering Fair Award: Distinction in Engineering (certificate, ribbon).

Elizabeth Larson: "Programming a Website to Purchase Online through a Smart phone"

- First place, Senior Division, in Computer Science

- Honorable Mention Overall, Senior Division (certificate, ribbon, pin).

- Systems Professional Society Award, Design and Analysis (certificate, cash prize).

- Society of Women Engineers Excellence Award (certificate, cash prize).

- Mid-Columbia Regional Engineering Fair Award: Distinction in Engineering (certificate, ribbon).

Chance Messer: "Engineering Flettner Rotors to Increase Propulsion"

- First place, Senior Division, in Engineering

- Honorable Mention Overall Senior Division (certificate, ribbon, pin).

- Sigma Xi Award: Outstanding Scientific Method (certificate, cash prize).

- Office of Naval Research Award (certificate, backpack, cash prize).

- Rosalind Franklin Award, First Place, Senior Division (certificate, cash prize).

- Mid-Columbia Regional Engineering Fair Award: Distinction in Engineering (certificate, ribbon).

Kiegan Wehr: "The Effect of Grey Water on Plant Growth for the Conservation of Land, Water, and Cost"

- First Place Senior Division Award in Environmental Sciences (Biological)

- Honorable Mention Overall, Senior Division (certificate, ribbon, pin).

- Mid-Columbia Regional Science Fair Award: Distinction in Creativity (certificate, ribbon).

Tori Weishaar: "The Effect of Center of Gravity on the Angle of the Horizontal Stabilizers in Flight Stability"

- First place, Ninth Grade Division Award in Physics

- Honorable Mention Overall Ninth Grade Division (certificate, ribbon, pin).

- Mid-Columbia Regional Science Fair Award: Distinction in Clarity (certificate, ribbon).

Rochelle Paszkeicz-Schuh: "Homeopathic Apple Cider Vinegar Compared to Commercial Stomach Acid Neutralization"

- First place, Ninth Grade Division Award in Chemistry

- Honorable Mention Overall, Ninth Grade Division (certificate, ribbon, pin).

- Mid-Columbia Regional Science Fair Award: Distinction in Clarity (certificate, ribbon).

Colby Sooy: "The Comparison of Solid Fuel on Rocket Combustion"

- Second place, Senior Division, in Chemistry

- U.S. Army Outstanding Research Award (certificate).

- Mid-Columbia Regional Science Fair Award: Distinction in Novelty (certificate, ribbon).

Wyatt Haase: "The Effect of Iodine as a Catalyst on the Combustion of Gasoline"

- Second place, Senior Division, Chemistry

- Mid-Columbia Regional Science Fair Award: Distinction in Creativity (certificate, ribbon).

Brenna Carstensen: "The Correlation between the Sugar Content in Ripe and Unripe Bananas"

- Second place, Ninth Grade Division, Physics

- Washington Apple Education Foundation Excellence Award (certificate, gift card prize).

- Mid-Columbia Regional Science Fair Award: Distinction in Data Collection and Analysis (certificate, ribbon).

The ASR Laboratory researchers now prepare for the State Science Fair in Bremerton to be held April 1-3, 2016. The research conducted at the OHS Advanced STEM Research Laboratory is aligned to the Washington State Science Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core Standards. If you would like to see what these students are up to each week, visit their student-driven website: http://www.wehrdscience.com/ASR or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.